AICTE KAPILA initiative leads to 39% surge in patent filings across universities in 5 years

 

Simplifying the reimbursement process and introducing features such as bulk data uploads in common formats could make the system more user-friendly

Despite an existing talent pool in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), a significant number of inventions and ideas have remained unprotected due to a lack of awareness about patent filing. To address this gap, the Kalam Program for Intellectual Property Literacy and Awareness (KAPILA) programme was initiated by the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in 2020 in memory of former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, which has led to rise in patent filing by 39%.

Aimed at creating awareness around Intellectual Property (IP) and providing financial and legal support to HEIs for filing patents, the KAPILA programme has, over the past five years, helped boost the country’s innovation landscape. Data from the ministry indicates that over 10,000 patent applications have been facilitated under KAPILA so far, with more than 1,300 HEIs, including IIT-BHU, Varanasi, IIT Kanpur, and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, actively participating in IP literacy drives and filing processes. The initiative has also seen participation from private affiliated colleges, deemed universities, and state institutions.

Abhay Jere, vice-chairman, AICTE, says, “Since its inception, the scheme has enabled thousands of students and faculty members to secure their innovations, with a marked increase in patent applications from HEIs. In 2020, out of 57,512 patents filed in India, only 829 were from HEIs. This low number was likely due to limited awareness about the importance of patents and the high filing and legal fees at the time, around Rs 28,000, which many institutions could not afford. However, in 2024-25, India saw a total of 1,05,157 patent filings, with HEIs contributing 33,674 of them. This marked a significant rise compared to 2020.”

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